


Feedback

by HermitLibrary_Archivist



Series: Jabberwocky - the adult and slash stories [3]
Category: Blake's 7
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, M/M, alternative universe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2008-05-26
Updated: 2008-05-26
Packaged: 2018-04-23 11:56:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,128
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4875910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HermitLibrary_Archivist/pseuds/HermitLibrary_Archivist
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>by Paula</p><p>Tarrant is distressed when Dayna finds someone else. Vila suggests an enjoyable alternative.</p>
            </blockquote>





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**Author's Note:**

> Note from Judith and Aralias, the archivists: This story was originally archived at [Hermit.org Blake's 7 Library](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Hermit_Library), which was closed due to maintenance costs and lack of time. To preserve the archive, we began manually importing its works to the AO3 as an Open Doors-approved project in August 2015. We posted announcements about the move and emailed authors as we imported, but may not have reached everyone. If you are (or know) this author, please contact us using the e-mail address on [Hermit.org Blake's 7 Library collection profile](http://archiveofourown.org/collections/hermitlibrary/profile). 
> 
> This work has been backdated to 26th of May 2008, which is the last date the Hermit.org archive was updated, not the date this fic was written. In some cases, fics can be dated more precisely by searching for the zine they were originally published in on [Fanlore](http://fanlore.org/wiki/Main_Page).
> 
> Previously Published in Jabberwocky, The Adult and Slash Stories. On the Wing. Rebel Desires
> 
> Artist Val Westall

Tarrant was sulking. Of course that wasn't what he called it, but he knew that was what it was. If asked, he would have said he was engaged in creative thought, but no one asked. Vila had been pestering him in the rest room just now. The thief had found Tarrant there, eyed him suspiciously with a great deal more perception than the pilot had liked, then plopped down at the table opposite him, offering one foolish conversational gambit after another, going on in the truly annoying way he had when no one was listening to him and he wanted to show off how intelligent he thought he was. Which wasn't very.

      Tarrant grinned wryly. No, that was wrong. The thief was smarter than he wanted anyone to think he was. He often came up with clever things, such as snatching Orac away from under Servalan's nose at Terminal. He might even be bearable these days. He certainly outclassed Tanz.

      Tanz. Now there was the heart of the matter. Actually it wasn't Tanz alone but the combination of Dayna-and-Tanz that really annoyed him, and Tarrant wasn't ready to deal with it. He hadn't finished his sulk yet, and the thought of the eager young engineer who had recently joined  _Jabberwocky's_ crew with his friends Edge and Perren still had the power to irritate Tarrant vastly. Tanz had arrived with his boyish enthusiasm and eager puppy-dog smile, his knowledge of  _Jabber-wocky's_ telepathic functions, and his dubious charm, and swept Dayna right off her feet. The certainty that Dayna's feet were very well planted on the ground and wouldn't sweep without her consent was a factor the pilot hadn't chosen to acknowledge yet.

      Maybe it was a case of sour grapes. Tarrant knew he could honestly acknowledge his mistakes and apologise for them, but how could he apologise in this case, when he had done nothing wrong? What he had done was nothing at all. A part of him had believed that Dayna was his and would always be his and when he got around to doing something about it she would be waiting and would smile nicely and fall into his arms. A stupid theory if ever there was one. Dayna was not in the habit of smiling nicely. She was more apt to wave a blaster in someone's face or pull a bomb out of her back teeth. Dayna and Romance? They didn't go together.

      He had wanted her, but he hadn't wanted her as much as he had wanted Jabberwocky. The link with the mindship was the most important thing in his life, a bond that only a pilot could appreciate completely, and it was the one thing about Tarrant that had put Dayna off. If he hadn't bonded with Jabberwocky, he would certainly have bonded with Dayna, but the link had always made her uncomfortable, and once he was linked, she had backed away. They were still friends, but the tantalizing thought of a deeper friendship had faded.

      Then Dayna had died, and he had cursed himself for the lost opportunities. When the new Dayna came to 'life' as an android, a more human android than Tarrant had ever encountered, he had thought long and hard. Was this really Dayna? Was it only a program that made her so close to what she had been before? He finally concluded that there was enough of Dayna's essence left to take her for the real thing - but a part of him couldn't. Now that he had her back, he did nothing to pursue their relationship. While he waited, rationalising it, listening to advice from Hugh Tiver, their ship's doctor, and discussing it with Jabberwocky, Dayna had made other plans. When Tanz and his friends had come along, she'd liked what she had seen and had gone for it. The auburn-haired engineer knew she was an android and it made no difference to him. Irritating as the thought might be, maybe he deserved her if he could accept her unreservedly.

      //I'm sorry, Del,// Jabberwocky spoke into his mind, the way he did when they were alone and sharing quiet communication. //I hope it isn't my fault.//

      "Your fault?" Surprised, he turned his head to the screen where Jabberwocky's receptors were located and smiled. He usually made a point of looking at Jabberwocky's screen when he spoke to him and he tended to resent it when other people didn't. But the annoying Tanz had done it from the first, and Tarrant found himself resenting the fact that he couldn't resent Tanz for it. He knew it was illogical, but then he wasn't Avon, who prided himself on his logic, or Edge, who almost matched the dour computer tech in that regard. "No, it's not your fault. I made a choice without knowing I'd done it. I chose you and I don't regret that - I never will. I could have chosen both of you or I could have given you up." He grinned. "No, I couldn't. But none of it's your fault. I'm just feeling sorry for myself because I was convinced Dayna would wait for me whether I deserved it or not."

      "She did, for a long time," Jabberwocky said aloud, his fascia flickering as he spoke. "I would have given you the privacy to be with her if you'd wanted it."

      "You always do," said Tarrant fondly. "I think it would be better if you didn't have to, though. The link makes us a part of each other. I guess I wasn't ready to share that with her. Or else I was afraid it wouldn't work."

      The buzzer sounded at the door, and Tarrant grimaced. He had come in here seeking refuge from the thief's persistent pestering, but there had been a look in Vila's eyes when he left that made Tarrant suspect he hadn't seen the last of him. "If that's you, Vila..." he began ominously.

      Taking it for an invitation, the thief came in. One could never lock him out - he'd get round any security system Tarrant could manage. He had a bottle and two glasses and a knowing grin on his face. "Planning Tanz's demise?" he asked.

      "Maybe." Tarrant took the glass Vila passed him automatically. "Vila, I don't want-"

      "You don't want to sit in here all alone and think nasty thoughts," Vila cut him off. "Except you're not alone. You've got Jabberwocky." He waved a hand at the screen. "Hi, Jabberwocky. Want a drink?"

      Of course Jabberwocky couldn't really drink. Though he had a human brain, he had no way to ingest alcohol. On a whim, Avon had once designed a program that would send signals to that brain which would allow a mellow feeling to spread through his systems. It didn't interfere with the ship's functions, neither did it really approximate to alcohol intoxication, though it came closer than anything else was likely to. Jabberwocky said he liked it, but it was seldom that he used it. Funny to think Avon had come up with something like that. But then Avon had once healed Jabberwocky when his long-suppressed memories had recurred; Avon might know, even better than Tarrant did, what it felt like to be a disembodied brain.

      Now the ship chuckled. "I've activated the program, Vila. Thank you. This will be fun. I always liked drinking with my friends."

      "If I'm in the way, I'll leave," Tarrant said, pretending to rise from his sprawled position on his bed. He snatched up a pillow, shoved it behind his back, and leaned against the wall, raising his glass to be filled. "What do you want, Vila? Why am I being plied with liquor? Is this a new scheme to get out of work?"

      "Course not." Vila assumed a self-righteous expression. "Came to talk to you. You're feeling bad about Dayna."

      Tarrant stiffened. "That's not your business, Vila."

      Vila didn't pretend it was, but he spoke seriously, his face thoughtful. "I was linked once, too, remember? Avon healed me after, when I was missing the link. Said I was gregarious and liked women and wouldn't want the link on when I had my recreation. I said I would." He took a big swallow of his drink, and his face brightened. "That's good stuff, Tarrant. Blake's private stock. He doesn't know I've got it." He sipped again. "Anyway, I thought it over. Dayna wouldn't have liked it, not with the link. I mean, she never was happy about it. Even now, when she goes into linkage or even interfaces with Orac, she doesn't like it the way the rest of us do. Jabberwocky knows."

      "He thought it was his fault," Tarrant admitted, raising his glass to his lips. Vila was right. It was good stuff. Funny that the thief would know. Tarrant had half-expected his taste to run to something that had been brewed in an amateur still somewhere in the engineering section of a troop transport ship.

      Vila shook his head. "No, it isn't your fault, Jabberwocky. Just a fact. I like Dayna. I would have liked her a lot better if she'd let me, but she never did. Dayna's the kind of girl who knows what she wants and what she doesn't, and you can't argue with her about it - not if you don't want to find yourself at the wrong end of her gun. She wanted Tanz and she has him. If you or Dayna had really meant to get together, you would have done it, whether Jabberwocky was here or not. You'd have worked around it," he concluded with more insight than Tarrant had expected from him.

      "He's right, Del," Jabberwocky said with relief. "You would have. Like you did with Kella."

      Vila's eyes sparkled. "Shut her out, did you?" he asked. The woman who was part of Avalon's staff had shared a brief relationship with Tarrant, but Tarrant had chosen to keep it separate from Jabberwocky. It simply hadn't felt right to include her in the link with Jabberwocky, though she had claimed she wouldn't mind.

      "She was - not serious, Vila," Tarrant admitted, half-astonished to be discussing his private life with the thief. Yet it had been a long time since there had been any overt hostility between the two of them. It didn't feel odd to talk to Vila like this. "I don't think it would have worked out," he concluded. He knew he and Kella had not loved each other. The relationship had been physical attraction and convenience, no more, and they had parted friends.

      "What about Jabberwocky?" asked the thief. He refilled his glass then dropped down beside Tarrant on the bed, eschewing the room's one hard chair. Leaning against the wall he pulled his feet up in front of him, one arm wrapped around his knees and the other hand securely around his glass, staring idly into space. "Pity to leave him out." The liquor hadn't slurred his voice, but he sounded relaxed and content, ready to start rambling. Tarrant knew that Vila could hold his liquor very well, and that he seldom drank lately, and then only to be sociable, but he had a knack for pretending inebriation when he wanted to avoid work or when he wanted to approach subjects that would be uncomfortable if he were thought to be sober. The appearance of too much to drink had worked wonders for Vila in the past.

      "I know," admitted Tarrant. It seemed wrong, somehow, to exclude his link-mate completely from that one facet of his life when Jabberwocky was a part of everything else. At first Tarrant had found the idea embarrassing, as if he would be performing to an audience, but he realised that feeling had long gone. Though Jabberwocky didn't have a physical body, he could have sensed Tarrant's feelings through the linkage and shared them, and it would have been all the more special to know that he could give Jabberwocky something that he could never have otherwise. It just hadn't seemed right to inflict sex on Jabberwocky when the computer had no feelings for the person in question. Dayna wouldn't have allowed it and Kella had been a stranger. "It isn't something that can be shared with just anyone," he informed Vila seriously, for once confident that the thief would understand. Vila had filled in for him once and linked with Jabberwocky when he couldn't and Vila knew the strength of the bond as few other people did. Cally and Blake had been Jabberwocky's link-mates, too, but Tarrant hadn't discussed it much with them. Blake had not been a good match for the computer and Cally, the telepath, still missed it, since a constant voice inside her head felt normal to her, its lack to be decried. Reminding her of the loss had never seemed in good taste to Tarrant, though he welcomed her into group linkage whenever possible. Knowing how good it made him feel, he couldn't exclude her from it completely.

      Vila nodded seriously. "Too bad. What about you, Jabberwocky? Would you like a little action?"

      Jabberwocky's warm chuckle echoed through the room. The idea certainly didn't disconcert him. "It would be fun," he agreed. "But Del is right. I don't want strangers. I'd feel like a voyeur then."

      Vila started to become interested in the problem. "Too bad. Cally and Jenna are taken and Soolin - well, I'm not sure. Sometimes I think she has a real thing for Blake."

      "She was out with Perren last night," Tarrant reminded him. Since their return to Ryalon from the mission where the three of Jabberwocky's linkage programmers had joined the crew, that had been an off-again on-again relationship that half the crew expected to end in bloodshed. The brown-haired psych tech had a smart mouth and a ready quip for every event and Soolin didn't allow anyone to cross her. They were both too different and too alike to be a comfortable duo. Tarrant was prepared to watch the sparks fly.

      Vila signed. "See. All the women taken. You have to be imaginative, Tarrant. What you need is somebody who's been in linkage, somebody who appreciates Jabberwocky as much as you do. Wouldn't be fair otherwise. Would it, Jabberwocky?"

      "Evidently not." The computer's voice did sound mellow. Tarrant wondered if it would sound that way to anyone else who might access him tonight or if it was limited to this room. He also sounded amused, as if he were following Vila's line of reasoning but already knew where it was going.

      "There you are," Vila replied, raising his glass again and clinking it against Tarrant's. "Need to find somebody who's been in linkage."

      An idea occurred to Tarrant that hadn't registered before and he lifted his eyes from the contents of his glass, considering it. Slowly he raised his head and slanted a suspicious look at the thief, who was sitting quietly, a smile on his face, staring at nothing in particular.

      "Why, Vila," said Tarrant suspiciously, though a hint of amusement ran through his voice, "are you trying to proposition me? Is that why you're here - and with liquor yet? I suspect I've been a bit dense not to notice."

      The older man looked up. His eyes were bright and wary. "And if I am, then?" he asked, not giving anything away. Tarrant thought he looked braced and alert and ready to backpedal like mad at the first sign of rejection. It must have taken an effort to come in here and work around to the subject when Tarrant had been so unresponsive earlier in the rest room.

      Vila? Tarrant frowned as he mulled over the offer. Strange he'd never considered that before. He had no innate objection to sex with men, though he generally preferred to take his pleasure with women. When he and Dorn had deserted from the Federation, they had never considered a relationship of that type. Vila might not have been the pilot's first choice, but he wasn't a bad choice, either. The way Tarrant felt tonight, he needed to be with someone, and he needed someone who wouldn't object to Jabberwocky, because to exclude his link-mate now, when he was still thinking of Dayna and Tanz, would only convince Jabberwocky that he was to blame for Tarrant's depression. He was afraid that he had hurt his link-mate's feelings with regrets about Dayna, as if he had made it into a choice between them. He hadn't really done that and he wanted Jabberwocky to know. Maybe this was the best answer of all, someone who had been, if briefly, Jabberwocky's link-mate, someone Jabberwocky loved unreservedly, someone, presumably, whom Jabberwocky would not reject out of hand. He sent a quick question into the link, to make sure that the mindship would have no objections. He wouldn't inflict something distasteful upon his link-mate. Jabberwocky had been married when he was still entirely human, and he might have reservations about being included in a male pairing.

      //Distasteful?// Jabberwocky sounded surprised at the question. //I love Vila. He is always welcome in my mind. If you want to share with him, I would join you gladly.//

      That was what Tarrant needed to know. He looked back at Vila and smiled. "If you mean it, then Jabberwocky and I think it's one of your better ideas." He was beginning to find the idea intriguing, and a quiver of anticipation ran through his body.

      Vila was surprised and gratified. "You're not just saying that? It isn't 'It's only Vila. Do this, Vila, do that, Vila, now go away nicely, Vila, and never mention it again, is it?'"

      "No, Vila," the ship assured him. "We are bound through the link. Come in and see." He drew Vila into link mode - Tarrant was always there but the addition of the thief made this link feel different. It was smaller than the group one, more self-contained, and it held both warmth and apprehension. Tarrant realised this could never have happened between him and Vila without the link and Vila had been hesitant because he had known it too. Maybe he had needed someone to share with tonight as much as Tarrant did, and realising Tarrant was feeling alone and rejected, he had decided to take a chance and make the offer.

      Vila sucked in his breath in open delight at the awareness in the link. "It feels nice," he whispered. "We're not here to make the ship work or to save somebody from Servalan. Just here for pleasure." Vila had always been a hedonist. Now he set aside his glass and moved warily closer to Tarrant, still half afraid the rules would change.

      "No," soothed Jabberwocky in both men's minds. "The rules have not changed. Whatever happens is right."

      Taking that as permission, Tarrant put his glass on the bedside table and eased his arms around the thief, knowing as he did it that Vila would slide closer against him and offer his mouth for a kiss. They pressed their lips together, half afraid it wouldn't work, that the arousal would not be there, but they were wrong. With an unexpected burst of feedback it flowered between them, as if the link could fling feelings back and forth and intensify it. Telepathy could do that, Tarrant knew. He and Jabberwocky had discussed it before, knowing that feelings shared in link mode were always intensified because the one partner could feel the other's responses as well as his own. That was why the group always came out of link stronger, because they had momentarily become a part of each other and the sympathy and understanding lingered, even with Avon.

      Vila's mouth opened eagerly under his and Tarrant drew startled breath and responded, flickering his tongue against the thief's parted lips. //Yes, Vila,// he thought gently, encouragingly, and heard Vila's agreement through the linkage as he responded by darting his own tongue forward to meet Tarrant's. They teased each other with tongues and the pressure of their lips for a long time, their bodies finding and fitting against each other with a surer knowledge than most lovers have, awareness passing between them without words.

      Deep in his mind, Tarrant could feel Jabberwocky's delight and knew that the feelings were ricocheting and echoing through his brain, giving a sensation not unlike physical gratification. Maybe it was the way a man could feel an amputated limb, but it created a semblance of reality and pleasure and that was what mattered. Tarrant could sense Jabberwocky's joy at the sharing and realised he could have done this before, even with Kella, though he feared it might have made her somewhat extraneous, since he hadn't really loved her as he did Jabberwocky. She couldn't understand the link and she had no feelings for Jabberwocky. Tarrant did. He wanted to give his partner as much pleasure as he could, and he wanted to share it with Vila, who was here and understanding and aware of all their needs. He felt closer to the thief than he ever had before.

      Vila pressed harder against him, wanting more, needing more. The restrictions of their clothing suddenly proved too much and Tarrant edged just far enough back to work at the fastenings of Vila's tunic, pulling them loose and exposing the other man's chest. Vila drew a sharp breath and retaliated, running his fingers over the smooth flesh he exposed and tweaking Tarrant's nipples. The pilot's whole body jerked with pleasure and he copied the move, stifling Vila's aroused cry against his mouth. Both men tried to channel their sensations through the link to share them with Jabberwocky. Absorbed into the pleasure, Jabberwocky moaned into the silence and the sound was wildly erotic. Tarrant lost himself in the kiss, even as his fingers fumbled after the opening of Vila's trousers, wanting to get closer, wanting to feel the erection he could sense through the linkage. Vila fed feelings to him, showing him his needs, and they enhanced Tarrant's own. The ache of longing in his groin made him struggle against the tightness of his own trousers.

      Vila gasped and reached for him and Tarrant sobbed with need and arched himself against the hand that stroked his straining penis through the cloth. Then they fell back as if the movement was choreographed, pulling away the remainder of their clothes, fumbling with the awkwardness of boots, yet never losing the peak of arousal because it ricocheted between themselves and Jabberwocky like a ball bounding from wall to wall without losing momentum. It was almost as if there were three bodies needing fulfilment, but the three minds were one.

 

      Finally they touched each other, flesh to flesh, and Tarrant felt Vila give a slight jump as he touched the thief's rigid shaft, encircling it with his fingers.

      "It's so good," moaned Vila. "I think I'm going to die and go to heaven any second now."

      "It would be worth it," Tarrant panted, his hips jutting up as Vila stroked him. The intensity was such that he knew it couldn't last much longer. "Too quick, but so strong." He grasped Vila and pulled the thief down on top of him, too full of need to wait any longer, until they lay together, chest, belly, hips. He could feel Vila's penis pressing against his own, and he didn't even have to tell him to move. The knowledge was there, just as it was there in his own head how best to counter every urgent thrust. Someone gasped, //Don't stop,// in his mind and he knew it was Jabberwocky, feeling what they felt, enjoying what they enjoyed. The sharing made it better than ever and they rode it out together, all three of them, as he and Vila pressed together again and again in delicious friction. When the thief jerked and cried out and Tarrant felt the wet spurt of warmth spread between them he grabbed Vila's hips and ground his own against them until his ejaculation shook him with a force that was so intense he thought he would black out. The lights dimmed, flared and flickered before they steadied. Vila chuckled breathlessly and said, "I hope that wasn't through the whole ship."

      "I think the whole ship just stood up and danced," Tarrant panted in Vila's ear, pulling the other man down against his chest and kissing him. They lost themselves in the kiss as their breathing slowed a little, but the feedback was still there, and neither man wanted to move away from the other. Because of the link, once would not be enough, not tonight.

      When they came up for air, Tarrant grinned at Vila and turned his head to share his delight with Jabberwocky's screen. "Are you all right, Jabberwocky?" he asked.

      "I've never been better," Jabberwocky replied breathlessly. "Thank you, Del. Thank you, Vila. That was lovely."

      "Thank you, my friend," Vila replied, his arms still tight around Tarrant. "I can't say I ever felt that kind of reaction before. I never thought of using the link for something like this - and that was a mistake. Think what we've been missing. I liked it. Want more."

      "I think that's inevitable," Tarrant replied in a voice that quivered because the awareness was still bouncing between them. "With so much feedback, I don't think we can get away with only the once."

      "Good." Vila snuggled up against Tarrant, his hips shifting questingly as he telegraphed the start of new arousal. It was so quick that Tarrant was surprised, but he felt his own quiver of response and knew that it was the link mode, rebounding their feelings and boosting them. He wondered how long they could go on before they collapsed from sheer exhaustion.

      "Not as long as you think," Vila returned without needing the thought to be vocalised. "I'm older than you are."

      "I didn't notice you falling behind," Tarrant replied. He rolled Vila onto his back and started to kiss the other man, working down to his chest, pulling one of the nipples into his mouth and working it gently with his teeth. Vila squirmed in delight and writhed with pleasure.

      Slowly Tarrant worked his way lower, trailing his tongue against Vila's belly, tasting the proof of their joint arousal there. Vila's fingers found his head, tangled in the curls, urged him lower. "Suck me," he pleaded.

      That made Jabberwocky moan again, and Tarrant complied with both their needs, knowing that Vila was open to the ship, allowing Jabberwocky to feel what he felt. Eagerly Tarrant sought the shaft, flicking his tongue across the tip. Vila arched up anxiously, whimpering with pleasure as Tarrant closed his lips over the head and began to take him in. When his tongue flicked out, tracing patterns on the rigid flesh, all three of them moaned. He sucked hard and Vila's whole body jolted with pleasure.

      Tarrant continued his ministrations, wanting to feel Vila's climax, knowing it would be as if he felt his own. He came down on Vila as far as he could, coaxing the thief's reactions, one hand moving lower to cup and squeeze his balls, the fingers of his other hand trailing between Vila's legs and teasing at the anal opening. Vila's eyes flew wide open and he cried out.

      //Do you want it, Vila?// Tarrant asked him in his mind, through the link. He himself did, and his need was so strong he wasn't sure he could hold back, but he didn't think he'd have to. He could feel the eagerness in Vila as he moved his finger over the opening in a teasing motion. Vila moaned, his body arching back and forth, thrusting his penis into the warmth of Tarrant's mouth, yet straining back for the finger that teased him, wanting that, too. Tarrant could tell that Vila was experienced, that he knew what he wanted, and he backed off slightly to delay the thief's pleasure, lifting his mouth away. Vila groaned and Jabberwocky echoed him.

      "Wait, Vila." Conscious of his own aching need, Tarrant could hardly bear to wait himself. They knew what would happen and both of them wanted it. Letting the feelings and statements of need flow back and forth without words, they looked at each other for a moment of realisation. Digging frantically in the drawer of his bedside table, Tarrant brought out a jar of lubricant and fumbled to pull the top off.

      "Hurry," moaned two voices, Vila's and Jabber-wocky's in perfect unison. Tarrant knew he would be making love to both of them, and his pulse quickened at the thought. He held out the jar and Vila dipped his fingers urgently into it and began to smooth the cream on Tarrant's rigid penis. He gasped and bit his bottom lip, afraid he would come too soon, but Vila was careful. He finished and then rolled onto his side, turning away from Tarrant and moving into position. Tarrant slid his fingers into the jar and when they were anointed, he found the opening and began to slide a finger in. Vila cried out, pushing back so quickly that he was impaled immediately.

      Tarrant slid in a second finger and moved them coaxingly, and Vila arched to meet each probing thrust. "Hurry," he pleaded. In Tarrant's head, Jabberwocky echoed the plea. Tarrant bit his bottom lip, so aroused that he felt his whole body would explode with one more sensation.

      Frantic with the triple need he felt, Tarrant slid into position and began to enter. Vila was tight around him and he went slowly, afraid of hurting the thief, but Vila took him in easily, welcoming him, broadcasting the sensations through the link. Tarrant was both thrusting and receiving, filling and full, and it overwhelmed him. He reached around Vila, his fingers encircling the thief's manhood, evoking another cry of sheer pleasure, erupting as if from three separate throats. The overhead speaker squealed and the lights burst into flaring brightness then dimmed to near darkness.

      Then it was a rush for completion, each movement a response to a need that did not require vocalisation. They were so deep in the link that it had passed into total gestalt, and suddenly they had become one body with two separate sets of parts, three souls, three needs made one. Each time Tarrant strove to quench his burning fire in the warm depths of the thief, Vila pushed back, grateful and welcoming, and Tarrant felt it as if he, too, were penetrated and pleasured that way. Jabberwocky exerted a kind of control that enabled them to prolong the pleasure, but such a bright peak of intensity couldn't last for ever or it would burn them out.

      "Now," Tarrant moaned, withdrawing nearly all the way and driving forward again, focusing every bit of his concentration on the double sensations. "Please, now!"

      Vila's penis throbbed under his hand and the thief cried out, arched back to meet Tarrant's drive, his fingers closing over Tarrant's and urging a faster pumping motion. "Don't stop," he cried, his muscles tightening around Tarrant as climax approached. Tarrant sobbed with overload and came, his body arching tight against Vila, his hand stroking faster and faster. He felt Vila's explosion of pleasure and a hot rush over his fingers. Jabberwocky called both their names and as orgasm exploded through them all, Tarrant closed his eyes against tears of sheer pleasure that ran unchecked down his face.

      When finally Tarrant lifted his head, he was spent and sated and content. He could scarcely move, but he bent his head forward and kissed the back of Vila's neck before he pulled free of the thief and lay beside him. Vila curled around to smile at the pilot, and cuddled up against his chest, the movement devoid of any sexual overtones. He looked as if he could sleep at the drop of a hat.

      "Jabberwocky?" Tarrant asked gently. "Are you all right? You didn't pull the whole ship in, did you?"

      Vila's eyes widened in mischievous delight at the thought. "Maybe he did. Maybe there's an orgy going on out there right now. Avon and Blake and Jenna and..."

      "This was between us three," Jabberwocky replied. If he had had a physical body, he would have been breathless, but there was a contented smile in the sound of his voice. "Blake is meeting with Avalon. It wouldn't have been fair..."

      Vila chuckled. "I would have loved to see his face if you had."

      "You have a perverse sense of humour, Vila," Tarrant told the thief.

      "I've worked at it for years," Vila said sleepily, pillowing his head on Tarrant's shoulder. "I'm a past master of the art. Besides, you liked it."

      "We all liked it," Jabberwocky replied. "I never thought I'd ever experience this kind of sharing again. Thank you, both of you."

      "We could make it a habit," Vila said hopefully. The remains of link mode still lingered, though Jabberwocky had eased from the gestalt; it took too much power to maintain for very long. In that remnant, Tarrant heard doubt, Vila's fear that tonight had been a convenience and that it wouldn't be repeated.

      "Were you planning on anything else?" the pilot asked. "I don't think Jabberwocky would ever forgive me if I told him this was a one-night stand. I'm not sure I would forgive myself."

      Vila's eyes glowed. Impulsively he leaned forward the necessary few inches to kiss Tarrant, and the pilot knew that without Jabberwocky such trust between them would never have been possible. The link mode had drawn all the crew closer together. While it wouldn't be practical for everyone to be together like this, the trust that had been born in link mode and gestalt had made this particular group of people closer to Tarrant than anyone he had ever known. He couldn't have imagined making love to Vila on the  _Liberator_. Now it was different.

      Tarrant returned the kiss. "Go to sleep, Vila," he said with a deep contentment that he hadn't felt for a long time. The frustration and bad temper that had plagued him earlier had vanished without a trace. It wasn't just Vila, he knew; it was Jabberwocky and the bond his link-mate had caused to grow between a group of people that had, at one time, seemed unable to relate to each other without bad tempers, distrust, even active dislike. Joining each other in the link had enabled them to look past the friction that had always marred their surface interaction and to see through the facades to the people underneath. Without it, tonight would never have been possible. Tarrant smiled at Vila, feeling closer to him than he ever had. He didn't know if he was 'in love' with Vila. He did know that he loved him.

      "There's always the morning," he reassured Vila, taking great delight in the idea. Vila smiled back, his whole face alight. Through the remnants of link mode Tarrant knew that Vila cherished the closeness as much as he'd enjoyed the sex, maybe more. Vila craved affection. They all did, but their lives up till now had not made it easy to share with each other.

      As the thief drifted off to sleep, Tarrant reached out for his link-mate and spoke into his mind, words he'd never expressed directly but words he meant with his entire heart and soul. //I love you,// he thought with a deep and abiding contentment. He would no longer regret any of the choices he had made. Dayna hadn't been for him like this, after all, and he knew now that was all right. She was still his friend. What he had gained through tonight's sharing was deeper than normal friendship; it was the certainty that he was cared for and the knowledge that there was someone who would always be there for him. He couldn't envision life without the link.

      //I love you,// Jabberwocky returned, his mental voice full of reassurance. Tarrant had always known that, but it felt good to hear it. //And Vila, too,// the mindship added with a twinkle of amusement.

      Tarrant nodded. He wasn't ready to speak those words aloud quite yet but he knew that there were real feelings there, and not just for Vila. Love was a deeper and wider word than he had ever realised before. //I'm sorry I waited so long to share this with you,// he added, then he grinned. //And it'll happen again. But I've got a favour to ask you.//

      The laugh ran through his mind as if Jabberwocky already knew what he was going to say. Probably he did. //What favour, Del?//

      //Vila's fine. Just don't ask me to do this with Avon.//

      As he fell asleep, the last thing he heard was the sound of Jabberwocky laughing.


End file.
